Dating : Mirror Mirror

The transformation

Zelda

“Come on already.” I muttered as I struck the side of her matchbox. After the fourth attempt, a flame sizzled at my fingertips. I flung it between the newspaper clumps and driftwood nestled within the stone circle. The night was calm, but a light breeze jangled a set of windchimes in the distance. The sound came from a glass house atop one of the cliffs overlooking the sea.

As I stared up admiring the building, a shudder ran up my spine when I saw something peer through a set of curtains from the window. It was a tall, slender figure that seemed to stare through me. I quickly looked away. When I looked back again, the looming figure was gone, but the curtains were swaying slightly. This confused me as the house was rumored to be condemned.

This sudden vision at the window caused me to feel alarm. I tried to convince myself I had imagined the whole thing. But I knew better. I had seen something.

“Probably some kid,” I reassured myself. Break-ins were common. I remained on the beach and chose to focus on the sound of the water lapping the rocks and the warmth of the fire. It wasn’t long before I was lying on the sand gazing up at the star-patterned sky. As I felt my eyes grow heavy, there came a lulling sound that accompanied the waves. I listened. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from. It seemed to echo in all directions. I sat up and glanced around. It appeared to be coming from the house.

The sound then vanished on the wind.

Ziz

Shuffling cards always calmed me. Especially when I couldn’t sleep. And so does exploring abandoned buildings. For as long as I can remember, this was a clubhouse for the neighborhood kids. I like it best when no one’s around. Just me, an empty table and some cards. I deal blackjack most nights. My name is Ziz. I didn’t pick it, mind you. My father once said it was a mistake on my birth certificate. I was supposed to be a Liz, after my great grandma Elizabeth. I guess a cursive L could be misinterpreted as a Z.

Anyways, as the cards fluttered in my hand, I heard a lulling sound from across the room. At first, it was faint and was easily drowned out by the crashing of the ocean. But then it grew louder to the point where I could hear a voice.

The sound came from the corner of the room. This was where there stood a mirror covered by a long sheet. I was the one who ended up covering it. Nobody fought me on this. There was always something about it that freaked me out. And I’m assuming other people felt it too. Some kind of bad juju that no one other than a relative could be asked to deal with. As I rose from my seat, the singing stopped abruptly.

Am I insane? There was no way I imagined the music. There’s no way it was an omen either. I don’t have any of that sixth sense nonsense. Not that I don’t believe others do have that gift. It’s just, I am not among them. To humor myself, I walked over to the mirror and took off the sheet. Staring back at me was my own reflection. Nothing mysterious here. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Then I noticed something written in small letters on the frame. I guess I hadn’t paid much attention to it before. It was a language I couldn’t comprehend. Postojim takav kakav jesam. Zmija mora.

It continued in English. Sing this song and follow me home. Forever you will be. The message continued in what I assumed to be the same language as before.

I pokazati mi put sirena. As I mouthed the last few lines, the mirror changed. My reflection morphed into something different. My lower half transformed into a scaly long tail with wide fins at the end. My curly hair looked alive as it splayed in all directions. My hands were webbed with much sharper nails at the end.

“What the fu-” before the words were out of my mouth, my reflection returned as it was before. I looked down at myself. No tail, no fins. I was about to make a run for the door when a voice came from behind.

“You speak Croatian?”

I whipped around to find standing in the doorway, a rather tall woman in a long, colorful dress. A headscarf was wrapped around her head. She wore many gold necklaces and bracelets.

“Who are you?” I backed up towards the glass door that led outside. The woman raised an eyebrow, as if I should already know the answer. She smiled.

“I stay here from time to time. I don’t visit the surface very often.” She sized me up as she walked towards me. Her eyes looked a little too far apart from what I could see.

“You read the incantation. Your life will change within the next 24 hours.”

“Incantation?”

“Do you not understand what you just read? You belong to the sea now. Tomorrow at sundown is when you will discover your newfound powers as a mermaid.” She explained as if she were assigning me with a chore.

“Listen, it was really nice meeting you, whoever you are. But I think it’s best if you left.”

“You don’t believe me do you? Even after what you saw in the mirror? That was no hallucination darling.” She rested a hand on my shoulder. “Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be just a call away.” I couldn’t let her leave just yet. If this woman wasn’t off her rocker, I should probably listen to her. I know the apparitions in the mirror were more than a trick of the mind.

“Wait,” she slowly turned around.

“Yes?”

“Tell me everything.” I said.

“Follow me.” The woman seemed pleased.

Zelda

Creepy as the house may be, it was righteous in its design: Angled roofs hung over glass walls and doors. I could see a little bit of the inside space, but not much else from where I sat. An idea struck me. Notebook in hand, I got up and jogged over to the sandy path that lead up to the house. The wind tousled my wavy locks, the smell of decaying fish and sea air filled my nostrils as I neared the hilltop. An eyeless catfish lay on the splintered porch. Flies buzzed around it as I scrunched up my nose in disgust. I went to the edge of the cliff and admired the view of the crashing waves on slippery stones. The spray of water droplets on my skin made me feel alive.

The wind picked up, as did the jangling of the windchime, catching my attention. I turned around and saw an unoccupied room inside the house. Standing in the corner of the room was a large mirror with a gold frame. Sculpted into the frame was the face and hair of a woman with hollow eyes.

I leaned in close against the glass, wanting to get a better look. I thought of slipping inside to explore. But the very idea of this made my skin prickle. I wouldn’t dare trespass. Fear got the better of me. Once turning around, I saw a middle-aged woman accompanied by a girl about my age. They were coming from around the house’s main entrance.

Even from a distance, I could see the girl looked an awful lot like me. This went beyond superficial comparisons such as our hair and skin tone. I could see her facial structure was a lot like mine. I reached the bottom of the hill and saw the woman splash through the water and dive beneath the waves. She surfaced, returning to the shoreline. Everything about her was the same, except from the waist down. She had a shimmering tail with paddle-like fins slapping at the water. I could hardly believe my eyes.

She then said something to the girl. Something that made her back away frightened. The mermaid used her hands to crawl closer to the girl who then turned and ran across the beach. Overcome by curiosity, I ran after her.

“Wait.” I called halfway down the hill. I leapt over tangled weeds and scattered driftwood.

She turned to look at me, slowing her stride. From that brief second, I could see how much her face resembled my own. Our mouths were the same shape. We had the same pointed nose, dark hair and eyes. I guess she noticed the same because she stopped and stared.

“Spitting image.” I whispered.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

“I don’t think so.” I replied. “Who was that you were just with?”

“No one,” she muttered. I gave her a look that told her I wasn’t buying it. She then went into the most incredible story about what happened to her within the past thirty minutes.

“So you’re a mermaid too?”

“God forbid, yes.” Ziz replied with anguish. “That crazed woman expects me to embrace it. I just won’t. I couldn’t possibly complicate my life like this.”

“Well.” I said slowly. “I wouldn’t mind that type of lifestyle. I’m always at the beach. I feel like I would adapt to the lifestyle rather quickly.”

“That’s not a bad idea. Not to mention, you look just like me. If you met up with her in place of me, she’d be none the wiser.” With a mischievous grin, she and I went back up to the abandoned house to find the mirror once again.

“I always wanted a sister. Do you think we might be?” I asked out of the blue.

“That’s what I’m afraid of. I’d much rather we be friends than bickering siblings.” Ziz told me. Related or not, I had the feeling we were in for an exciting new lifestyle waiting for us beneath the waves.